The Restoration Period (Game)
In 50AI, after two successful but costly expeditions to reclaim land from the Rifts in Belenus, Prince Renba of the country of Grayswallow undertook a pilot initiative - creating a system for training citizenry with a sense of adventure to close Rifts themselves. The initiative was wildly popular, and within a century, the over 500 danger spots on Grayswallow land had all been contained. Players of The Restoration Period act as one of the initial parties of common folk adventurers to take up King Renba on his offer. Creating a Player Character Players can be any one of the four Citizen Species of the time: * Sunlings: Sunlings are a species that have traversed the entire world of Maeykka in some more ancient time. They are known for their high adaptability and explorative nature, and there seems to be no land that a Sunling can’t or won’t settle. These traits have helped them to become the most populated citizen species of Belenus, despite being not as strong or as Maey-adept as the other races. Their will to survive seems to conquer all hurdles. * Hael: The product of intermingling between Sunling and the magical near-immortal Vei, Hael came to be on the continent of Iyn and therefore had never been seen on Belenus before The First Epoch. Their name is thought to be an acronym to a High Vei poem about their lineage, though the exact words of the poem are now forgotten. They are attuned to the natural world, whose energy flows through their bodies and allows them to control the mists of Maey. * Norfolk: A great bear-like species that have carved out lives for themselves in the frozen North. They are typified by their intense loyalty, stubborn courage, their stoic nature, their blunt words and their dry and fatalistic sense of humor. Even when enjoying themselves, as they like to do with a strong groundroot alcohol, they tend not to talk much, except to recite incredibly depressing poetry. * Mertral: An amphibious species that thrives in wet areas of the continent, Mertral spend their lives half on water and half on land. They are strongly tied to their places of origin and are usually found in familial groupings. If they are far away from their home families, they will try to adopt a new family. Their natural physique and training underwater make them particularly agile and strong warriors. Their strange looks compared to the other Citizen Species has caused them to be discriminated against for most of Belenus history. There are three classes of Rift Sealers in Belenus, each with four focuses which determine their feat tree: On Rifts About Rifts: Rifts are tunnels into The Void, a parallel plane thick with Mystic power and frightening creatures. While the brave heroes who had discovered the cure for the Rift Curse had managed to stop new tears from forming, at the start of The Second Era, over 1000 Rifts were still polluting the land that belonged to the former Kingdom of O’Sine. How to close a tear: Rift tears are sealed by destroying the mechanism keeping them open. These mechanisms are usually attached to Rift creatures – and the more powerful the creature, the larger the Rift. To close one at little cost of adventurer life, a portal beacon is placed at the entrance of the tear. When the mechanism is broken, the tear will begin sealing and the adventurers can use the portal to transport themselves back. Portal beacons have a limited range. Rift tears were categorized into five types: *Little Rifts: Usually ones that had formed in dark corners around the land, but had thankfully not grown large enough to let larger Rift creatures through. Unfortunately, they are usually only closeable by accident. As they are too small to travel through themselves, a proper sealing requires adventurers to travel through a different Rift and find the creature keeping a Little Rift open. Sometimes a Little Rift will grow into an Entry Rift or more, but it is a rare occurrence. It’s theorized that it’s because these little tears open up to incredibly far-flung and unpopulated parts of The Void. Little Rifts are documented as they are come across, but not counted officially. *Fledgling Rift: A Rift large enough to enter, but not large enough to be attached to a creature of significant power. A small team of trained adventurers could usually expect to close one of these in about a week and transfer out immediately with a small portal beacon. There were 176 such Rifts in Grayswallow documented at the start of the Restoration. While most of them were closed, some of them later fell under government control and became used as training grounds. *Central Rift: A Rift large enough to let more dangerous creatures through. It is priority for adventurers to close them as they pose a threat to villages trying to establish in the area. Generally, it is controlled by a lower intelligence, but powerful beast. They have usually claimed the lives of several careless adventurers in the past, but can ostensibly be closed by a singular group. There were 300 such Rifts in Grayswallow documented at the start of the Restoration. *Wasting Rift: A Rift so large that settlement of the area surrounding it is impossible. Adventurers soon learned that these are controlled by sentient and highly intelligent Rift beings. These have only been closed after months-long campaigns by several groups of adventurers. Often, just the process of entering these Rifts can take time and effort, and even lower ranking groups of adventurers are called in to help clear the way. There were 48 such Rifts in Grayswallow documented at the start of the Restoration. *Epic Rift: A Rift that is large enough to require an army to close it. Controlled by Void dragons or creatures of similar power. There were 4 Rifts documented at the start of the Restoration. Player Characters All characters are citizens of Grayswallow. The three races of adventurers are Norfolk, Hael and Sunling. Each species has various natural ability bonuses and can be customized with extra points. The next step is determining expertise: Choose one from each category to be your primary and one from another category to be your secondary. Choose a Class and Profession: The various classes and professions offer different skill types and bonuses.